Brandon Nakashima is an American professional tennis player who was born on August 3, 2001, in San Diego, California, United States. Thanks to the influence of his grandfather, who keenly took him to the local park to practice, Nakashima started playing tennis at the age of 3.
After a very successful junior career – being ranked as high as number 3 in the world as well as entering into the American collegiate tennis system – he was ready to start out in the real world of international tennis. He was lucky enough to receive a wildcard straight into the main draw of the 2020 Delray Beach Open, which he made the most of, winning his first two rounds to set up a quarterfinal appearance against Yoshihito Nishioka in what was his maiden ATP appearance.
2020 was also the year he made his Grand Slam debut at the famous COVID-19-plagued US Open. Winning on his first appearance, his run was cut short by eventual finalist and fifth seed Alexander Zverev.
The progress did not stop there for the American, and in 2021, he was already making the finals of ATP events. His first came at the Los Cabos Open, where he eventually lost to Cameron Norrie in straight sets. Just one week later, he repeated the feat, losing to John Isner in the final of the Atlanta Open.
Naturally, this trajectory continued, and in 2022, he claimed his first bit of ATP silverware at his home tournament in San Diego. He added to this accolade later on that same season, winning the season-ending Next Gen ATP Finals.
By the end of 2022, he had never been in a better spot, reaching a then career-high ranking of world number 43 in October. However, he could not quite maintain the progress that had taken him to that place in the following season, with him experiencing a dip in form, meaning he was taken out of the Top 150.
After a lot of hard graft, he once again found himself back inside the top 100 of the world rankings, ready to add to that tally of ATP trophies.
